บท 18: Exploring

"Maixiu, where are we going?" Xiang Tingfeng called out to the man in front of him.

They moved down the hallways together. Kang Maixiu immediately noticed that the pathways were different from how they were when they walked into the room. He tsked. "We're going exploring." He told him.

He took a random turn, Xiang Tingfeng didn't hesitate to follow after him. "Right. But we don't know where we're going." He of all people should know of Kang Maixiu's talent at becoming disoriented.

"That doesn't matter. Those two will probably find us easily whether or not we knew the way." He took another random turn. He paused for a second to think, before turning to tell Xiang Tingfeng, "Rip one of those off." He pointed towards one of the lamps on the walls.

Xiang Tingfeng gave Kang Maixiu a look of doubt but seeing the seriousness on his face told him not to question it. He wrapped his large hand around the lamp's neck and tore it off in one quick move.

The part of the wall interweaved with the other pieces of the broken wall. The patterns moved like worms and repaired the broken hole in the wall like it wasn't there. And out of nowhere, another identical lamp slipped out of the wallpaper.

"Wha-what the?" Xiang Tingfeng stuttered. He moved back out of shock and gave the broken lamp in his hand a surprised look.

"This damn freak house." Kang Maixiu angrily sneered. He remembered to remind himself that this wasn't exactly reality and that something like this wasn't real. From the maze hallways to the unbreakable windows, and now to the self-healing walls.

"H-how did you know it would do that?" Xiang Tingfeng spun his head around to look at him. His wide brown eyes looked at him with a familiar sense of amazement.

"I didn't." He grabbed onto the lamp out of Xiang Tingfeng's grip. He gazed at the fire that still burned in the glass encasing. He waved the lamp slightly and watched as the fire flickered and danced. "I just wanted this, I never knew it was going to do that."

"...Oh." Xiang Tingfeng seemed embarrassed and scratched his nape.

Kang Maixiu didn't bother with him and paid his attention to the fire. He stuck his fingers in between the open space and pealed out one of the glass panels so that he could have easy access.

The flame swayed and flickered from the open air. Kang Maixiu carefully put his finger above it. The heat traveled through his skin and sent messages of pain to his head.

"It's hot." He mumbled.

"Maixiu! Why are you putting your finger in the fire?!" He grabbed onto his wrist and looked at his hurt finger. A red spot formed over the burnt area. "Oh, no. Your hand..." He sadly looked over the injured finger.

Kang Maixiu took his hand back from him and waved it in the air. "It's fine. This is what I wanted."

"But it's going to blister... and then how are you supposed to hold your pencil..." Kang Maixiu was a diligent medical student. His hands were his irreplaceable tools. He was constantly taking notes and working with his hands.

Kang Maixiu sighed to hide his smirk. "There are much more important things than how I'm going to hold my pencil. I'm sure I can deal with a blister." He patted Xiang Tingfeng's toned shoulder. "Now stop acting like a baby."

He blew out the fire but held onto the lamp. He glanced at the newly created lamp on the wall and noted how there wasn't any fire lit in it.

Xiang Tingfeng looked like he was going to talk back to Kang Maixiu, but stopped midway. He turned his head behind him and moved his eyes along everything in his vision. "What is it?" Kang Maixiu asked. He also turned to look down the hallway.

"I can hear something coming this way." He said. His clumsy, babyface was gone and replaced with a look of solemnity. He put his arm out at an angle in front of Kang Maixiu and willfully called out to the hiding figure.

"Come out. I know you're here." His strong voice echoed throughout the tunnels.

The person was quiet for a moment before Kang Maixiu could hear the suffering of their clothing. A slim figure stepped out from the corner to reveal themselves.

"S-sorry." A quiet voice said. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop, it...it just didn't seem like the time to walk in." Yang Lan fanned out her long skirt and looked away from the two of them with a red face. She was embarrassed about being caught, who knew Xiang Tingfeng was so aware of his surroundings?

At the sight of the young girl, Xiang Tingfeng let his guard down. "Yang Lan, It's you." He relaxed his shoulders and his arm fell back down to his side.

Kang Maixiu narrowed his eyes suspiciously at the woman. "What are you doing here? Weren't you in the other room with Duan Li and Li Yusheng?" He gripped onto the neck of the lamp. He thought that if he really needed to, he could throw the object at the woman if necessary.

The girl fidgeted with the cloth of her skirt, "Well, um, I saw you guys walking out, and I... and Ms. Duan was really scary." She clenched her eyes shut and felt her face warm up again. "So, I just followed you guys out the door."

Kang Maixiu kept up his guard, "How long? Were you there the whole time?"

She waved her hands in denial. "No, no. I went out to follow you both, but I ended up getting lost..."

Xiang Tingfeng laughed slightly, "Yeah, I know what you mean. This place is like a maze, right Maixiu?" He turned to look at his companion.

Kang Maixiu only scoffed. "Whatever." He turned and started walking away. "I'm done with this. Let's head back." He headed towards where he came from. Xiang Tingfeng willingly followed behind him like a puppy.

"W-wait for me!" Called Yang Lan.